Virginia Beach

Since we didn't go on any vacation last year, we've been anxious to hit the beach this year especially Ethan.  We kept going back and forth with when and where we wanted to go.  But after a looong and stressful week at work for Brian, we decided on a whim that now is the time.  Virginia Beach it is.  Not knowing what was about to happen before our trip.

On Friday night, Brian and his cousin, Ryan had a guy's night out while I stayed home with the kids.  Around 10:30 pm, lights started to flicker on and off and then it went completely dark.  I looked outside and didn't realize that apparently a good size storm was coming through.  Trees were swaying back and forth like crazy and I thought for sure one of them were going to fall on our house.  The thunder was so loud that it woke Ethan up crying so I brought into my room trying to calm him down and convincing him to go back to sleep.  Eventually, he did and I'm pretty sure the last time that happened was when he was a newborn because he never actually lay still enough to sleep in our bed.  Brian eventually made it home and said that power/traffic lights were out everywhere and trees were down including one on the road to get to our house.  We spent the next morning camping out in the basement as the temperature was rising with no A/C.  It wasn't too bad until that night when it became unbearable.  Brian and I ended up sleeping on the couch downstairs and left first thing Sunday morning.  It turned out that our house didn't get power back until 40 hours later, which was while we were in VA Beach.  Thankfully, we were able to take a load of freezer stuff to a friend's house but still had to throw out a lot of fridge stuff before leaving.  What a bummer!

The vacation itself went really well.  Probably the best one with Ethan (and now plus an infant).  We prepped him as much as we could about the car ride and how it was going to take a while to get there.  He sat quietly in his car seat most of the time while reading some books and looking outside the window.  The DVD player didn't even come out until after lunch.  I couldn't believe it.  Since this was such a last minute trip, we had to scramble to find a place for Kaika.  Luckily, a friend of mine who recently moved from Davenport to VA Beach, took him in.  It ended up working out perfectly!

First thing when we got there, I made Ethan napped (knowing it'll make or break the day).  Then we hit the beach and he was just the giddiest/happiest kid on the planet!  It was a long awaited moment for him.  We came back again the next day and he quickly found a friend to play with.  And that was how he spent the rest of the morning.  We headed to the pool later that afternoon and swam until his little heart's content.  As for Gavin, he cat napped here and there and slept as well as he could in the stroller.  He sat with me on the beach and dipped his feet in the ocean a few times but thought the water was too cold.  Both boys surprisingly slept through each other noises (crying, sheet ruffling, head banging, singing, etc) considering they've never shared a room before.  Brian and I didn't do as well though.

 

Just chillin'

 

 So carefree

 

 

Here... 

 we...
 

  go!  And he doesn't like it.
 

 Visiting the Cape Henry Lighthouse before heading home
 

Digging the whole headphone thing

We made it there and back without hitting any beach-goer traffic, which I heard can be pretty crazy.  And other than one melt down on the way home, I would say it was a success.  The only mistake?  Buying a bag of taffy and bringing them home.  Let's just say we never hear the end of the C-A-N-D-Y.  Next year's vacation plan: The Outer Banks, NC for a week.  Anyone care to join us?

Side note:  This year we decided to skip the whole 4th of July fireworks and stayed in since we were pretty tired and just didn't feel like being around all the crowd.  We'll have to see what it's like next year.